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In the latest development to its award-winning global trade portal, MaxTrad, ABN Amro has significantly enhanced its purchase order manager (PO Manager) functionality to make it a more robust corporate outsourcing tool, claims the bank. The service manages online purchase order issuance, invoice matching, payment and settlement under letter of credit, authority-to-pay and open account.

This year, ABN Amro will process more than US$3bn in purchase orders.

Daniel Cotti, managing director, Global Trade Advisory at ABN, says: “Costs related to trade processing account for roughly 10% of the total value of world trade. As companies focus on improving working capital management and shift to open account terms, they are looking to reduce operational expenses and realise greater efficiencies in their global financial supply chain by removing non-core activities from their back offices. The enhanced MaxTrad PO Manager helps them to achieve this.”

The new MaxTrad functionality provides a single point for customers to manage all their trade transactions, regardless of type – a unique feature in the market. PO Manager automates the administrative tasks on both the buyer and seller sides of a domestic or cross-border trade transaction. It covers electronic receipt of a purchase order to online supplier review and approval of a purchase order, invoice comparison, electronic discrepancy reports, images of documents related to the transaction, reconciliation and payment. It is completely flexible, enabling the choice of any or all the steps involved in the seamless electronic processing of a transaction.

Cotti continues: “Combined with our white-labelling and growing trade document imaging capabilities, the updated PO Manager furthers our strategy of providing comprehensive, industry-leading digital trade management solutions through secure single-point access on MaxTrad.”

MaxTrad PO Manager effectively eliminates many manual processes, enabling faster invoice approval. Importers benefit from lower A/P processing costs and complete integration with all their supply chain partners, whether they operate in a digital or paper-based environment. Exporters, who need not be customers of ABN Amro to participate in this service, benefit from fewer discrepancies, reduced days sales outstanding and faster payment.
PO Manager features a customisable PO format, a variety of PO reports and report customization tools, an exporter module and e-mail alerts. It can fully integrate with users “back office/ERP systems with no disruption to their existing trade processes.

With more than 175 years “experience in intermediating and financing global commerce, ABN Amro is a leading provider of trade services. Through Global Trade Advisory, part of the bank’s Working Capital business, ABN provides customised commodity, web-based trade and supply chain finance solutions to companies and financial institutions around the world.